Bald men linked to heart disease: research

Posted
April 04, 2013 22:04:00

New research has found bald men are at greater risk of developing heart disease. A group of Japanese researchers compiled six studies from Europe and America. It found men who had hair loss at the back of their head were more susceptible.

TIM PALMER: New research has found bald men are at greater risk of developing heart disease.

A group of Japanese researchers compiled six studies from Europe and America and found men who had hair loss at the back of their head were more susceptible.

Stephanie Smail reports.

STEPHANIE SMAIL: It's not the first time scientists have investigated the connection between baldness and heart disease. But it is the first study of this size.

A Japanese research team used existing data from more than 36,000 patients in Europe and America to compile their findings.

Doctor Kazuo Hara from the University of Tokyo was the lead researcher.

KAZUO HARA: The present study found that male baldness is associated with 30 to 40 per cent increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

STEPHANIE SMAIL: The study found only men who had pattern baldness - or hair loss at the back of the head - had an increased risk of coronary heart disease. It also found the level of risk was higher the more severe the baldness. But the report hasn't established a direct link between baldness and heart disease.

Doctor Kazuo Hara says some of the causes of baldness - like age, hypertension and smoking - also cause heart disease, which could explain the connection.

But he's not ruling out the discovery of a direct link with further research.

KAZUO HARA: The other... other possibility is a direct link between baldness and heart disease. But there is no one who can tell a mechanism whereby baldness causes heart disease.

STEPHANIE SMAIL: The Heart Foundation says heart disease is the leading cause of illness and death for men and women in Australia.

Doctor Robert Grenfell is the foundation's National Director of Cardiovascular Health.

He says it's important to note the research doesn't show baldness causes heart disease or vice-versa.

He's urging Australians to be vigilant about the risks of heart disease.

ROBERT GRENFELL: The best judge of your heart disease risk is not the mirror or your hairdresser, it's in fact your GP. And the Heart Foundation is urging all Australians over the age of 45 to have a heart health check, which simply means getting you blood pressure and your cholesterol checked and working out the other risk factors for heart disease, and then determining what your chance of actually have a heart attack in the next five years is.